On April 15, 2020, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued an Exposure Draft, Postponement of the Effective Dates of Certain Authoritative Guidance, which proposes to postpone the effective dates of certain GASB Statements and Implementation Guidance due to be implemented by state and local governments for fiscal years 2019 and later, in order to provide temporary financial reporting relief to governments during this COVID-19 pandemic.
The Exposure Draft has identified provisions that became effective, or will become effective, for reporting periods beginning after June 15, 2018, through Statement No. 92, Omnibus 2020. The result is the possible postponement by one year of the effective dates related to the following Statements and Implementation Guides:
- Statement No. 83, Certain Asset Retirement Obligations
- Statement No. 84, Fiduciary Activities
- Statement No. 87, Leases
- Statement No. 88, Certain Disclosures Related to Debt, including Direct Borrowings and Direct Placements
- Statement No. 89, Accounting for Interest Cost Incurred before the End of a Construction Period
- Statement No. 90, Majority Equity Interests
- Statement No. 91, Conduit Debt Obligations
- Statement No. 92, Omnibus 2020, paragraphs 6–10 and 12
- Statement No. 93, Replacement of Interbank Offered Rates, paragraphs 13 and 14
- Implementation Guide No. 2017-3, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Postemployment Benefits Other Than Pensions (and Certain Issues Related to OPEB Plan Reporting), Questions 4.85, 4.103, 4.108, 4.109, 4.225, 4.239, 4.244, 4.245, 4.484, 4.491, and 5.1–5.4
- Implementation Guide No. 2018-1, Implementation Guidance Update—2018
- Implementation Guide No. 2019-1, Implementation Guidance Update—2019
- Implementation Guide No. 2019-2, Fiduciary Activities
- Implementation Guide No. 2019-3, Leases
The GASB did not propose postponing the other provisions of Statement 93 or Statement No. 94, Public-Private and Public-Public Partnerships and Availability Payment Arrangements, because the pandemic was factored into the establishment of the effective dates for those pronouncements.
The GASB is working on an expedited schedule to issue this guidance. The Exposure Draft has a comment period deadline of April 30, 2020, with the Board is scheduled to review feedback and consider a final Statement for issuance on May 8, 2020.
Stay tuned
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is working hard during this challenging period to provide stakeholders with accounting and financial reporting relief. We are atop the latest developments and can help guide you through your financial reporting challenges.
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